Generally, in a reclining seat for an automobile, side brackets of a seat back of the reclining seat are opposed to side brackets of a seat cushion of the reclining seat and coupled to the side brackets of the seat cushion by a connecting shaft, and recliner devices are mounted on the connecting shaft and arranged between the side brackets of the seat back and the side brackets of the seat cushion, whereby the seat back is pivotally supported to the seat cushion so as to be pivoted forward and rearward relative to the seat cushion in such a manner that an angle of the seat back relative to the seat cushion can be adjusted.
In the automobile seat constructed as discussed above, when the recliner devices are unlocked, the seat back can be pivoted forward so as to be laid on the seat cushion and can be pivoted rearward toward a seat cushion of a rear seat or a second seat arranged rearward of the seat. In particular, when the seat back is pivoted rearward so as to be brought into a full-flat state where the seat back is in a fully rearward reclined position, the seat back can be laid on the seat cushion of the rear seat. The forward and rearward reclined postures of the seat back can be maintained by causing the recliner devices to be locked.
When the seat back is pivoted rearward so as to be brought into the full-flat state and is laid on the seat cushion of the rear seat, the rearward relined posture of the seat back can be stably maintained even if a weight load of an occupant on the front seat is applied to the seat back. However, if the seat back of the front seat is pivoted rearward to such a degree that the seat back of the front seat is not laid on the seat cushion of the rear seat, the weight load of the occupant on the front seat which is applied to the seat back of the front seat is received by the recliner devices only. Similarly, in a second seat employed in an automobile in which a cargo space is provided in a rear section of the automobile and a third seat is not present rearward of the second seat, when a seat back of the second seat which is pivotally supported through recliner devices to a seat cushion of the second seat is pivoted rearward and a weight load of an occupant on the second seat is applied to the seat back of the second seat, the weight load is received by the recliner devices only.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a reclining seat for an automobile, in which a rearward reclined posture of a seat back of the reclining seat can be stably maintained, with a simple structure, in a full-flat state to such a degree that the seat cushion is not laid on a seat back of a rear seat, or which is a second seat employed in an automobile in which a cargo space is provided in a rear section of the automobile and a third seat is not present rearward of the second seat, and in which a rearward reclined posture of a seat back of the second seat can be stably maintained in a full-flat state with the simple structure.